EDs Seeing More Patients Who Abuse Medications
Abstract
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessEDs Seeing More Patients Who Abuse MedicationsEve BenderEve BenderPublished Online:4 May 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.42.9.0004bIn 2005 there were 108 million visits to emergency departments (EDs) in U.S. hospitals, and an estimated 1.5 million of these visits were associated with drug misuse or abuse, according to U.S. government data.Drug Abuse Warning Net works (DAWN) researchers gathered data from 355 emergency rooms across the United States by reviewing medical records related to recent drug use. To be included in the analysis, drugs needed only to be implicated in the visit; they did not have to be the cause of the visit.All data were estimated using weighted calculations based on actual visits to emergency departments.Emergency department visits linked to the nonmedical use of medications increased more than 20 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to the government's DAWN report, "National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits," issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in March.According to the data, 598,542 emergency department visits involved nonmedical use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs or dietary supplements.Opiates and opioid analgesics accounted for 33 percent of the visits linked to nonmedical use of medications and included hydrocodone/combinations (51,225 visits), oxycodone/combinations (42,810 visits), methadone…
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